running home
R E L AY I S A N A P P L I E D A R T S R E S E A R C H P R O J E C T A N E X P E D I T I O N O N F O O T F R O M T H E H E A D WAT E R S T O T H E M O U T H O F T H E M I S S I S S I P P I R I V E R .
R E L AY I S T H E P R O D U C T O F O V E R E I G H T E E N M O N T H S O F R E S E A R C H A N D D E V E L O P M E N T B Y V I C T O R I A B R A D F O R D A N D H E R T E A M O F AT H L E T E S A N D A D V I S O R S .
V I S I O N
We will create a national spotlight on the Mississippi River region, emphasizing its diversity and importance from the Headwaters in Minnesota to the Mouth in Louisiana by running a 2,300 mile relay race through over 100 communities in 100 days.
We will use new methods of research to understand the human dimension of life on the water by listening to human movement and everyday behavior, partnering with the Water Institute of the Gulf to integrate our research with ecological findings.
We will work together with river communities, making Relay a platform for you to organize an event with proceeds going to the cause of your choice.
Relay is an expedition We want to learn, grow, experience the truth of things, and have fun as well! We want to spend time with you and come to know your story through dance, movement, conversation, and running with residents along the River.
B A C K G R O U N D
T H E R O U T E
M E R G I N G T W O PAT H S — O N E M A D E F O R B I K E S A N D O N E M A D E F O R C A R S — F O R T R AV E L O N F O O T
1 0 0 C O M M U N I T I E S F R O M A P R I L 2 7 - M AY 2 6 , 2 0 1 8 , W E W I L L M A K E A N A D VA N C E T O U R T O V I S I T T H E 1 0 0 C O M M U N I T I E S I D E N T I F I E D A S “ R A L LY S T O P S ” A L O N G T H E R E L AY R O U T E .
1 0 0 D AY S O F R U N N I N G S TA R T I N G I N S U M M E R / FA L L O F 2 0 1 9 , S I X M E N A N D W O M E N W I L L S E T O U T O N T H I S A M B I T I O U S J O U R N E Y F R O M T H E H E A D WAT E R S T O T H E M O U T H O F T H E M I S S I S S I P P I R I V E R .
A D AY I N T H E L I F E
S C E N A R I O 1 We’ll arrive in your community around 3 o’clock in the afternoon and invite local contacts to gather or host an event in a public park or open space to welcome us. We will invite those gathered to join us in our final laps, walking and running. Together we will keep moving as we “listen” to the voices from our previous destination along the route.
S C E N A R I O 2 With the help of our local contacts, we’ll connect with specific, individual residents in each community whose voices can connect us to the River. We are looking to spend a few hours with them, watching and witnessing their everyday lives through “movement interviews.”
S C E N A R I O 3 Each community will send us off to our next destination with a collective energy. At our “morning movement,” your community can come warm up with us around 7 o’clock as we process the stories gathered the day before from their citizens. Then we’ll invite you to join us as we walk, jog, and run further downriver.
B O N U S Some communities may invite us for an extended stay, or perhaps a late night, where we will create a performance that relays the many stories from communities upriver of your own. In collaboration with local partners, we’ll create an event that connects your arts community with our new body of research, similar to work we are creating for the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago.
M A K E R E L AY Y O U R S
SOCIAL MEDIA: Through social media such as hashtags #theriveriscalling and #relayofvoices on Instagram, Facebook advertising, and our own regular blog posts we will be putting a spotlight on each community we stop in and run through letting the whole country see the frontier spirit of the communities that call the Mighty Mississippi home.
PARTICIPATION: We invite you to run or walk in this relay connecting with others down the River. Run the entire 2,300 miles as a supported ultra marathon relay or pick up a few miles here and there when we are in your region. Details on individual participation coming July 2018. Also, if you are not an athlete yourself, you can still sponsor a person who wants to participate!
COMMUNITY CAUSES: Work with your community to offer a platform to run with us for a cause or charity of your choice that benefits your local community. Emphasize how movement/exercise through running, walking, and dancing will strengthen your community’s well- being and mental outlook.
At the 2020 MRCTI Conference in Bemidiji, MN, Relay will share your voices, the collective, unjudged, human story of the River through a culminating exhibition including film, visual displays and performance. We invite you to not only help shape this final product but participate in how it comes to life.
B U I L D I N G E N G A G E M E N T
R E L AY ’ S 1 0 - S TAT E V I R T U A L R A C E S E R I E S T H I S J U LY Run your own race, at your own pace, in your own time
R A C I N G T H E R O U T E I N 2 0 1 8 The Relay Team will participate at nationwide running and multisport races. Races include The Louisiana Half Marathon in Baton Rouge, LA; The Bank of America Shamrock Shuffle, The Chicago Triathlon and the Chicago Half Marathon in Chicago, IL; the Grandad Half Marathon Relay in LaCrosse, WI; the Run-4- Troops Marathon Relay in Dubuque, IA; and the Get-in-Gear Half Marathon in Minneapolis, MN
M O V E M E N T I N T E R V I E W S In the field, we will listen, observe, and ask questions. But we will also focus in on gestures, rhythms, behaviors, actions, routines, and rituals that become evident during the interview. We will ask to witness everyday activities, to be invited into someone’s life and world as much as possible.
B U I L D I N G S U P P O R T
C U R R E N T PA R T N E R S & S U P P O R T E R S • Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative • The Water Institute of the Gulf - Baton Rouge, LA • Center for River Studies - Baton Rouge, LA • Coastal Sustainability Lab - Baton Rouge, LA • 3Arts - Chicago, IL • Chicago Dancemakers Forum - Chicago, IL • High Concept Labs - Chicago, IL
C U R R E N T C O M M U N I T Y C O N N E C T I O N S MISSOURRI MINNESOTA Hannibal, Louisiana, Clarksville, Elsberry, Winfield, Ashburn, St. Lake Itasca, Park Rapids, Bemidiji, Bena, Deer River, Grand Charles, Arnold, Festus (Twin Cities), Ste. Genevieve Rapids, Jacobson, Aitkin, Brainerd, Little Falls, Rice, Elk RIver, St. Cloud, Monticello, Minneapolis, St. Paul, La Crescent KENTUCKY Wickliffe, Hickmann WISCONSIN Prescott, Bay City, Nelson, Fountain City, Trempealeau, La TENNESSEE Crosse, Grandad Half Marathon Tipton County/Covington, Memphis IOWA ARKANSAS New Albin, Harpers Ferry, Clayton/Guttenburg, Dubuque, West Memphis, Helena-West Helena, Eudora Run-4-Troops Marathon, Bellevue, Clinton, Davenport (Quad Cities), Muscatine, Oakville, Burlington MISSISSIPPI Port Gibson, Natchez ILLINOIS Moline (Quad Cities), Nauvoo, Quincy, Grand Tower, Thebes, LOUISIANA Tamms, Mounds City/Mounds, Chester, Wolf Lake, Union Baton Rouge, River Region, Kenner, New Orleans County/Jonesboro, Cairo
and more to come!
Q & A
T H A N K Y O U
Victoria Bradford Executive/Artistic Director victoria@ahouseunbuilt.com 337-794-8222 Dinah Bradford Managing Director P L E A S E B E I N T O U C H ! info@arelayofvoices.com 337-274-9460 Nic Ruley Team Coach tricoachnic@gmail.com 425-281-1925
@relayofvoices facebook.com/relayofvoices A L S O O N S O C I A L ! relayofvoices.com/travellog
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